Reason 1: You hate trade shows.
You hate walking around them, you hate standing there for days on end, and you don't have anyone in your company who does get warmed up to them. In that case, think at least twice before booking your stand. After all, the only reason to stand there is that you want to have good conversations with good (new) customers. If you stand there completely against your will, everyone can see that. Your trade fair hatred is dripping off you, you can't hide that. And if a visitor sees that, he will walk on. So your stand remains empty and you only hate the fair more. A vicious circle you might as well stay out of.
Also read: The trade fair anno 2017: good investment or outdated concept?
Reason 2: You don't know who you are there for.
If you do find trade shows interesting and feel pride at the idea of exhibiting your company on the show floor, there is another reason to stay away. That is if you have no idea who you are actually there for. You don't know who you would most like to welcome to your booth. You don't see in front of you who you want to have good conversations with. If you don't know that, you go in completely blank. The fair can be an unexpected success, or an unexpected failure.
There is no need for that.
You know damn well what you have to sell and who it is of interest to. If you don't know that right away, ask yourself the question: "Which of my existing customers would I like to clone?" The person who emerges from that thought exercise is the one you are going to stand for at the fair. Then you set up your stand so that that person immediately sees, "Ha! They are here in front of me!"
If you are not willing to ask the question "who am I there for?" to yourself, that is a reason not to attend. Because then it remains a gamble.
Also read: How a sweaty Swiss with €199 banner left all the competition behind at the fair
Reason3: You don't have time to follow up on your trade show leads
Does it feel like someone is slowly clenching your throat at the idea that you will soon have big waves of potential customers at your booth, all of whom you have to follow up with? Does your sense of self-preservation scream: 'NO!!!'?
Then you are not alone.
For many entrepreneurs, the courage sinks in when they think of the days they have to free up to call all those people one by one.
While this may seem like a genuine reason not to participate, it is not necessarily true. If you want to grow and need new customers, you have to spend time there left or right. Your underbelly is stirring because you don't yet have a plan to turn your trade show leads into customers. Once you do have a plan, you will again see opportunities instead of a jumble of extra tasks you don't have time for.
The key is to determine in advance exactly who is a good lead for you. And for those leads, you can create a simple follow-up plan. My advice is to offer them something at the fair that is extremely interesting to them. This means you have much less work afterwards, because you can already schedule an appointment at the stand.
This is how one of our clients does. He is a Belgian entrepreneur who specialises in warehouse and business equipment. At trade fairs, he offers a free Warehouse Safety Scan worth €297 to all large business owners with refurbishment plans.
He tells you in his booth that he can show you in 1 hour exactly what you need to change about your warehouse to pass the health and safety inspection 100% guaranteed, and what you can do to save more than 2 working weeks annually by getting to the right stuff faster. This is hugely interesting for all trade show visitors with a large warehouse or plans to build one. They can schedule their Warehouse Safety Scan directly at the stand, allowing the Belgian entrepreneur to bring in new customers in a very targeted way.
Is this going way too far for you? Then only write down which trade show visitors are good leads for you. Those are the only leads you need to follow up on, and the chances of there being hundreds of them are slim. If you have written down for yourself on a beer mat how you are going to follow up on those leads, your sense of unease will subside.
Now you can make a real decision. What will it be: yes or no?
Need tips?With these phrases, your stand will fill up with just the right people
